Of all the eye-opening selections in the 3rd round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and there were many, one that particularly raised some eyes was the Miami Dolphins taking Texas Tech wide receiver Caleb Douglas with the 75th pick.
Douglas was, by most analysts, a surefire Day 3 prospect who could become solid depth for a team's passing attack. He's a tall, smooth wideout with a 4.39-second 40-yard dash and adjusts well to haul in passes away from his frame. However, the Red Raiders' product is someone who struggles to separate at a high level, has dealt with drop issues, and is far from an effective contested catch artist.
He doesn't currently possess a prospect profile that projects to be highly impactful at the NFL level, and the confusion among draft media only grew when examining the other available wideouts on the board. Tennessee's Chris Brazzell II, Georgia's Zachariah Branch, and Georgia State's Ted Hurst, among others, remained available when Miami was on the clock.
Fans and analysts alike have attempted to discover the reasoning behind their decision to take a receiver who was likely to be available much later in the draft, and a recent report reveals it may have been more of a panic move than a calculated choice.
Was Douglas their top choice?
Miami Herald reporter Barry Jackson was quick to outline the timeline of their selection, which seems to be highly influenced by what the New York Giants did one pick earlier.
"[I] was told today that Dolphins indeed liked Notre Dame WR Malachi Fields, but Giants jumped them and traded 3 picks to [the] Cleveland [Browns] for pick 74," Jackson posted on X. "Which left Miami using pick 75 on Caleb Douglas, who was the team's only pick that was criticized by multiple national analysts as a reach."
If this proves to be true, it's certainly not the greatest look for Miami's new-look front office. While General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan downplayed the correlation during a recent press conference, it's not exactly something he would confirm publicly, especially to the media
As is the case with every pick in the NFL Draft, steals and reaches are never something that can be determined before the player actually steps onto the field. There's no way of fully telling whether or not Douglas will succeed for the Dolphins, but his entrance to the NFL won't be without plenty of question marks.
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